MarkusWerba

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  • Baritone

About Markus

Austrian baritone Markus Werba studied at the Klagenfurt Conservatory and at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, completing his training with Gerhard Kahry and Walter Berry.

This season, Markus sings Figaro Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Guglielmo Così fan tutte at Wiener Staatsoper. He made his house and role debut at Opéra Royal de Wallonie–Liège earlier in the season with Valentin Faust followed by Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus. He also performs the title role in Don Giovanni in Piacenza and Modena. On the concert scene, Markus will sing Brahms' Requiem at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari.

Next season, Markus performs Papageno Die Zauberflöte with the Budapest Festival Orchestra at Winterfestspiele Baden-Baden, and in Budapest and Vicenza. He also sings Guglielmo Così fan tutte with Ivor Bolton and the Camerata Salzburg.

Markus began his career as a member of the ensemble at the Vienna Volksoper, before going on to perform at the world’s most prestigious opera houses. Highlights include performances at the Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Bayerische Staatsoper, Wiener Staatsoper, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Teatro la Fenice, Opéra de Lyon, Opéra National de Paris, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Metropolitan Opera, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Bolshoi in Moscow, Teatro Colón, the Sydney Opera, the Chinese National Opera in Beijing, the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the Salzburg Festival and the Tanglewood and Aspen Festivals. He has worked with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Jeffrey Tate, Kent Nagano, Riccardo Muti, James Conlon, James Levine, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Daniel Barenboim, Iván Fischer, Zubin Mehta, Lorin Maazel, Daniele Gatti, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and Kirill Petrenko.

Besides his numerous opera engagements, Markus can also be heard regularly in concerts and recitals with works by Mahler, Schumann, Schubert, Brahms, Liszt, Fauré, Ravel or Debussy. He has performed at the Wigmore Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Pierre Boulez Hall in Berlin, the Musikverein Vienna, the Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg, the Mozarteum, the Salle Pleyel, the Philharmonie de Paris, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and the Rudolfinum in Prague, among others.

Markus has recorded numerous CDs and DVDs featuring works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, Mahler and Hugo Wolf.

Markus is based in Rome

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Contact

Mark Hildrew

Mark Hildrew

Executive Director
Elan Fryar

Elan Fryar

Assistant Artist Manager

Representation

Worldwide general management with Askonas Holt

Follow Markus

Season Highlights

Sep 2025
Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège
Faust (Valentin)
Sep 2025
Weiner Staatsoper
Il barbiere di Siviglia (Figaro)
Oct 2025
Wiener Staatsoper
Così fan tutte (Guglielmo)
Dec 2025
Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège
Die Fledermaus (Eisenstein)
Jan 2026
Fondazione Teatri di Piacenza
Don Giovanni (title role)
Feb 2026
Teatro Di Modena
Don Giovanni (title role)

Video

Photos

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Selected Repertoire

Cavalli

La Calisto (Mercurio)

Cimarosa

Il matrimonio segreto (Count Robinson)

Debussy

Pelléas et Mélisande (Pelleas)

Donizetti

Don Pasquale (Doctor Malatesta)   •   Lucia di Lammermoor (Lord Henry Ashton)   •   L'elisir d'amore (Belcore)   •   La favorite (King Alphonse)

Gounod

Roméo et Juliette (Mercutio)

Henze

Das verratene Meer (Nummer Vier)

Kálmán

Die Csárdásfürstin (Count Boni Kancsianu)

Korngold

Die tote Stadt (Frank-Fritz)

Lehár

Die lustige Witwe (Count Danilo Danilowitsch)

Leoncavallo

Pagliacci (Silvio)

Lortzing

Der Wildschütz (Graf von Eberbach)

Marschner

Hans Heiling (title role)

Mozart

Così fan tutte (Guglielmo + Don Alfonso)   •   Don Giovanni (title role + Leporello)   •   Die Zauberflöte (Papageno)   •   Le nozze di Figaro (title role + Count Almaviva)   •   La finta giardiniera (Nardo)   •   Zaide (Allazim)

Paer

Agnese (Uberto)

Paisiello

Il matrimonio inaspettato (Giorgino)

Puccini

La Bohème (Marcello)

Purcell

Dido and Aeneas (Aeneas)

Ravel

L'Heure espagnole (Ramiro)

Rossini

La Cenerentola (Dandini)   •   Il barbiere di Siviglia (Figaro)

Schubert

Alfonso und Estrella (Froila)

Strauss

Ariadne auf Naxos (Harlequin + Musiklehrer)   •   Capriccio (Olivier)

Strauss II

Die Fledermaus (Eisenstein + Falke)

Tchaikovsky

Eugene Onegin (title role)

Ullmann

Der Kaiser von Atlantis (Kaiser Overall)

Verdi

Don Carlo (Rodrigo)   •   Falstaff (Ford)   •   La Traviata (Giorgio Germont)

Wagner

Tannhäuser (Wolfram of Eschenbach)   •   Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Sixtus Beckmesser)

Weill

Happy End (Bill Cracker)

Press

  • Don Giovanni (title role)

    Teatro Municipale, Piacenza
    Jan 2026

    • Markus Werba è un Don Giovanni sempre vigile e pronto alla reazione: sa perfettamente quello che fa, vocalmente e scenicamente. La sua lunga frequentazione del ruolo lo rende sicuro e altamente disinvolto e ciò rende il suo personaggio ancora più cinico e intraprendente. [Translated] Markus Werba is a Don Giovanni who is always alert and ready to react: he knows perfectly what he is doing, vocally and scenically. His long attendance of the role makes him confident and highly casual and this makes his character even more cynical and enterprising.

    • Markus Werba è artista di razza, raffinato, adatto quant’altri mai a calarsi in una lettura così sottile, risultando credibile senza perdere la verve maliziosa che Don Giovanni ha di natura, tanto vocale quanto scenica [Translated] Markus Werba is a thoroughbred artist, refined, as suitable as ever to immerse himself in such a subtle reading, being credible without losing the mischievous verve that Don Giovanni has by nature, both vocal and scenic

  • Die Fledermaus (Gabriel von Eisenstein)

    Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège
    Dec 2025

    • Le baryton Markus Werba enfile avec aisance et entrain et un magnifique timbre (agrémenté d'une touche de gouaille bienvenue) le costume de Gabriel von Eisenstein. [Translated] The baritone Markus Werba puts on the costume of Gabriel von Eisenstein with ease and enthusiasm and a magnificent timbre (embellished with a welcome touch of cheekiness).

  • Così fan tutte (Guglielmo)

    Wiener Staatsoper
    Oct 2025

    • Der Dritte im Trio der Rollendebüts ist der österreichische Bariton Markus Werba als frohgemuter, leichtsinniger Guglielmo. Der beliebte Papageno-Darsteller, bekannt für possenhaftes Auftreten, tritt vor allem in den Streitszenen mit Ferrando mit seinen komödiantischen Fähigkeiten in Erscheinung und wird damit zu einer ernsten, besser: spaßhaften Konkurrenz für [Translated] The third in the trio of role debuts is the Austrian baritone Markus Werba as the cheerful, reckless Guglielmo. The popular Papageno actor, known for his farcical appearance, appears above all in the quarrel scenes with Ferrando with his comedic skills and thus becomes a serious, or better: funny, competition for....

  • Faust (Valentin)

    Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège
    Sep 2025

    • Il est heureux de retrouver Markus Werba dans le rôle de Valentin qui lui va très bien et qu’il incarne avec naturel. [Translated] He is happy to find Markus Werba in the role of Valentin who suits him very well and whom he embodies with naturalness

    • Como Valentín, el barítono austríaco Markus Werba aporta la nobleza y el compromiso vocal que lo caracterizan. Artista experimentado, laureado de numerosos concursos y habituado de los mayores escenarios mundiales, Werba caracteriza el rol de Valentín, el hermano sincero y valiente, con gran rigor musical y una profundidad de expresión particularmente impactante. Su aria «Avant de quitter ces lieux» logra resonar con la solemnidad y emoción requeridas, impulsada por una voz de legato seguro. Like Valentin, the Austrian baritone Markus Werba brings the nobility and vocal commitment that characterize him. An experienced artist, winner of numerous competitions and accustomed to the world's biggest stages, Werba characterizes the role of Valentín, the sincere and courageous brother, with great musical rigor and a particularly striking depth of expression. His aria "Avant de quitter ces lieux" manages to resonate with the required solemnity and emotion, driven by a voice of confident legato.

    • Les notes longues et le légato sont des atouts pour Markus Werba, Valentin implacable à la voix agile et tissée en empreintes. [Translated] Long notes and the legato, are assets for Markus Werba, an implacable Valentine with an agile voice woven into imprints.

    • On savoure aussi le charme du baryton Markus Werba, rond et profond, qui confère à la scène de la mort une intensité dramatique poignante. [Translated] We also savor the charm of the baritone Markus Werba, round and deep, who gives the death scene a poignant dramatic intensity.

    • Le Valentin de Markus Werba est d'une redoutable efficacité par sa malléabilité vocale, d'une infinité de nuances psychologiques entre contrition protectrice (un poignant Avant de quitter ces lieux) et soif de vengeance. [Translated] Markus Werba's Valentine is incredibly effective in its vocal malleability, with an infinity of psychological nuances between protective contrition (a poignant Avant de quitter ces lieux) and a thirst for revenge.